Fighting the good fight for the turtles at Playa Hermosa

Date added: Thursday 9th August 2012

After the end of phase one, things changed a bit within Raleigh. The previous groups were all mixed up and changed from being called Alpha's to being called Romeo's. It was a great chance to meet new people and make new friends.

Before we knew it, the newly formed group of R3 had arrived at the turtle conservation beach named Playa Hermosa. The conservation zone ( situated along the Costa Rican coastline facing out to the Pacific Ocean ) sees hundreds of turtles and thousands of eggs each year. The main type of turtle seen here are Olive Ridley, green and even sometimes leatherback turtles. In the photo on the left, you can see the hatchery that Raleigh built - where we bury and guard the turtle eggs until they hatch.

Our main work here is to patrol the beaches and protect the turtles and their eggs from poachers and predators. The patrols are at night and lit by moonlight only as we cannot use torches for fear of frightening the turtles or advertising our location to poachers - it has been great to see the beach with no artificial lights in this way. If any eggs or nests are found, our job is to move the eggs into the hatchery as quickly as possible.

We were all lucky enough to spot at least 4 turtles. Overall phase 2 so far has been an unforgettable experience and none of us can wait to see what is next.